Sunday, October 30, 2011

Now settle down kids, and let me tell you a story. Once upon a time.... no, I won't keep going in that vein, you can unclench.

BUT -I do have a story. A boring and fibery one at that. I love yarn. Seems a weird thing to be addicted to but I fully admit it. I'm just a step past recreational use, barely in control. In in attempt to save a little money I started looking up cheaper yarn on eBay and Etsy. There was a lot to sift through and much of it was labeled 'reclaimed'. Now THAT caught my attention, I had to investigate further. People could buy sweaters at thrift stores and take them apart for the yarn? is this possible?! When I figured out how to do it myself I was in yarny heaven. So many possibilities! Merino, angora, and silk, oh, my! I spent my weekends hitting thrift stores, secondhand stores, and garage sales... it felt like treasure hunting.

When my pile of yarny booty began overflowing it's bounds in my closet and started taking up residence in the living room, my darling husband used my own words about his tech habit against me- "income needs to equal output". Something comes in, something goes out... do you know how painful it is to get RID of yarn?!?!

In the midst of my discovery-of-reclaiming buzz I shared the knowledge with my mom since she loves knitting and crochet, too. Oh, me, oh, my. Who could have known exactly how much yarn and sweaters she would collect in such a short time?

Tonight I went to JoAnn's in search of some materials that I needed, it was necessary that they be new. Our local JoAnn's recently moved into a former Gottschalk's and I was a little awed when I walked in. So. Much. Fabric. I was fairly dizzy with the bright lights and colors of all of the different crafting mediums and thankful I had a limited amount of money to spend in one place.

Now, I'll have to disappear off the interwebs again for a short period of time while I make good use of the new crafty things I picked up. :) See you when I come up to breathe!

P.S. I have been curing the rosemary soap I made and it finally appears to be hardening up. Thank goodness for that, I was worried I had wasted a bunch of ingredients. It works well, too, though the scent is pretty faint after rebatching so many times.I think it was 4... maybe 5?

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Today my youngest started getting a runny nose and acting whiny and petulant. Sigh, the signs that he's getting sick. By this afternoon a very mild fever and sleepiness joined the team so now I'm playing defense.
I found a couple of recipes on a blog recently and I'm dying to try them, this is a perfect opportunity. I stumbled on Keeper of the Home Cold Kicker recipe to help kick it in the bud right as it starts - forewarning, it's supposed to steep for a couple of weeks so plan ahead. It was simple to put together since I had just about everything on hand and wow, was that ever a potent mix. My breathing is VERY clear now, lol. I have high hopes for it's effectiveness, but doubts about my children opening their mouths for it. Crossing my fingers that the honey added after it's finished will make a big difference in the flavor.
Next I made a more immediately gratifying recipe from the same blog, the Cough and Cold syrup. It was even simpler and smells much more appealing. Thank goodness for generous bloggers sharing their recipes! I'm always looking for good home remedies so I can avoid the ingredients in store bought stuff. I'll be sure to share how this works for my family.